


Escaping the Aboleth

by bucky483



Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Jack is Nightlight, and these are his memories
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-24
Updated: 2014-06-03
Packaged: 2018-01-26 09:28:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1683413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bucky483/pseuds/bucky483
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Jack sleeps, memories come back to haunt him. But do they really belong to him?<br/>Loosely based on the GoC series, with heavy ROTG influences.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> An Aboleth is a massive fish-like creature that lives in the sea, and consumes the memories of everything it touches.  
> Reviews mean everything to me! Thank you for reading <3

It was only when he closed his eyes, that he was truly at peace. In his cave of ice, protected by mountains of snow and dagger-like icicles, he would lay and sleep, and dream.

They were dreams that weren't created by Sandy or Pitch, and were too perfect to be Jack's imagination. Each time he slept, they were different, but one thing stayed static; when he woke up he felt free, and weightless, and loved. It wasn't like the artificial feeling he got when he saw the other Guardians, this was raw and real and Jack knew that what he felt was true.

Every dream, though, he was in the same place. A black cave, cold and dark, pinned against a wall by black, rock-like bonds. But he was never scared. Something - someone's - voice was always there, breaking sometimes as if for rest. It wavered and faltered, but it was soft and calming and Jack adored it. He had never seen where the voice came from; lifting his head only allowed the view of a dark tower with a small soft light off-centre.

He never knew his name, who he was in this place. There was never anyone else to talk to, apart from the voice.

\---

As Jack settled down in his bed of snow, after a day with the Guardians planning their attack on Pitch, his dream was different. He was still in the cave, but the light in the dark tower was brighter. It illuminated the long, regal face of a man; his sharp teeth glinting with each word. His voice was stronger and Jack was scared. His fear in his dreaming state bubbled up inside of him, shaking his bonds until they poured silken black sand from their cracks, disintegrating entirely and releasing Jack to crumple to the floor. He lifted his head up, slowly from centuries of disuse and watched as the tower holding the man up shook. The man laughed as he floated down to the ground, a hideous noise that made Jack throw his hands to his ears to protect himself. The more he heard, the more he feared and he felt helpless.

"You tried to trap me for eternity, but your carelessness has broken the bonds that held both of us. You thought you had no other choice, and you told me everything. So it'll be you they blame, Nightlight, when I destroy Lunanoff and everything it ever stood for!"

The man raised his hand and wrenched the light from his chest, and threw it at Jack - at Nightlight - and watched as it impaled the younger boy. The Nightmare King's laughter downed out Nightlight's screams, and continued, as he lifted them out of their prison-like cave and flung the boy into the sky towards the Constellations.

\---

Jack awoke with a cry, a searing pain engulfing him as he clutched his chest and screamed - from fear, from pain, from despair.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bit of a shortie, this one. Will Nightlight and Pitch meet again?

Jack awoke with a cry, a searing pain engulfing him as he clutched his chest and screamed - from fear, from pain, from despair.

After that, the dreams stopped and Jack didn't sleep again. He'd pass the days away laughing when the Guardians watched him, and staring lifelessly when he watched them. If he wasn't flying around the world trying to find more believers, he was back in his icy cave, drawing frost patterns on the walls and finding new ways to keep the others out. Every pattern he made sparkled blue, then the next day or month or year, he couldn't tell, it became darker until it was the colour of black crystal. As time passed, the more Jack stayed in his cave, the more the black patterns would spread around the cave. He'd lie in the middle of the iced floor, jagged icicles as his protection, and watch the ornate, tentacle-like arms dance around the walls.  
After another argument with the Guardians ('I'm fine Tooth I'm fine North no don't worry I feel fine I'M FINE') the arms would greet him, growing out from the walls and brushing over Jack's body, as if checking him for wounds that they could heal. They gently pulled his staff away and laid him down, not to dream, but to sleep and watch the sea of stars before him.  
.  
Pulling away from the Nightmare that bought him the message, Pitch turned and smiled. Since he escaped the prison set for him by Nightlight, and flung him back up to the Tsar in the Constellations, Pitch had watched Jack's every move. He sent the Mare away with a flick of his hand, and walked to the thrown at the head of the room. He sat, throwing his legs over the side of the armrest, looking longingly at the dusty throne next to it. The Nightmares and Fear Creatures around him drew closer, as if waiting for a story from their creator.  
“If I can't have the Tsar's son, I'll have the next best. Everything will be back to how it should have been. The two the Man in the Moon adored, then cast out, together again. The King and the Prince, the perfect pair.”  
He sighed and leant his head back, staring towards the glittering ceiling and closing his eyes. Jack's energy and fear was so close, he could almost touch it. But not yet.


End file.
